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First of all - was a miracle I got here as I had a bit of a late night and got to bed at 3am.. had to be up and ready for a taxi at 6.15 so I think I did good!
Luckily I had a chance to sleep on the 2 hour coach drive - then there was a 45 minute ferry - also slept on this, unfortunately woke up with a bit of headache - self inflicted due to late night and alcohol consumption!
Anyway, Kangaroo Island - it felt like it was just one huge national park, and in some respects that is what it is. It is the thrid biggest island of the coast of Oz, and has some of the most amazing landscapes and scenery. There are a few populated areas, mainly near the ferry port, and the current population is about 4,000.
Our first stop was Seal Cove. Does what it says on the tin - there were seals a plenty there, mainly sleeping as they had just been feeding - they go away into deep waters for up to 3 days, pig out and then come back. there were a few baby seals, much cuter than their larger and sleepier adult companions. I was actually more interested in the Tiger snake that was sunning itself by the boardwalk, there was a guide nearby advising people not to poke it - why you would want to do that when you are in a country that has 20 out of the 23 most venomous snakes in the world is beyond me!! It was beautiful though. Very venomous, and can grow up to 7feet long and is one of the more aggresive snakes around. I took the advice and left it alone :)
Next stop was lunch - needed some carbs by then so it was very welcome!
The next item on the itinerary told me we were going to see a bird show - i was not particularly enthralled at this prospect and reckoned i could get some more sleep - however, it turned out to be one of the best things I saw that day. The Bird Master - not sure what else to call him - was Dave Irwin - cousin to the late and great Steve Irwin. He could make these birds of prey do pretty much anything, including sitting on laps of the audience and catching items like a dog would fetch a stick. The eagle was incredible, so majestic and huge when it opened its wings fully.
Next we went to the aptly named 'Remarkable Rocks' - these are rock formations that have been formed over thousands of years, they sit on an almost smooth curved rock base, set amongst vegetation and balanced on the cliff edge, the sea is quite rough around the coastline so the waves crashing below create a dramatic backdrop.
The rocks are granite and seriously look like someone has carved them into these abstract shapes, some of them are huge, 30 feet high and great to climb on!
The whole place had quite a surreal feeling to it - I would love to be there on my own without the distractions of other tourists, I think the experience would be much more spiritual! Or is that just the Buddhist in me?? :)
Drove over to the other side of the same cove to see a lighthouse - must have been a lonely life - and then saw more seals, another pretty impressive rock formation called Admirals Gate - chosen as the photo for this blog - it was a great walk down to see the gate and more of the seals - which were actually pretty smelly and doing the whole laying around, sleeping thing again - not the most exciting of the animals I have seen, but apparently they can move pretty fast if they need to!
So, I would definitley recommend Kangarood Island, I did the whistle stop tour in one day, I think to get the most of it you would be better staying for a couple of days and doing some of the walks, oh, and yes I did see Kangaroos and a lovely sleeping Koala in a Eucalyptus tree!
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